Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the treatment of tissue along airway, vascular, lymphatic (AVL) lumens, and more particularly, to systems, devices, and methods for providing treatment for lung cancer along AVL lumens either as a primary treatment method, or as an adjunct treatment along with other treatment methods.
Description of Related Art
Treatment of tumors and other cancerous tissue located in or around the lungs may be accomplished by using various treatment methods, including radiation, chemotherapy, and/or various surgical procedures. Though primary treatments including surgery, radiation, and the like are good for their intended purpose, one challenge that is commonly seen is the spreading and reseeding effect. In some instances, this spreading and reseeding may be caused by the treatment intervention itself. Alternatively, the tumor, because of its connection to a variety of body networks, e.g., circulatory, respiratory, lymphatic, or biliary secretions, can spread or reseed as cells break off from the tumor and are carried through the body. One mechanism that has been described to combat the reseeding effect in microwave liver ablation using ablation needles is to treat the needle track formed by the insertion of the ablation needle following treatment of the tumor. This continued treatment of the needle track prevents spreading of the disease along the needle track by the movement of the ablation needle itself which has come into contact with the cancerous tissue and may actually be drawing cancer cells away from the tumor during the removal of the ablation needle. While such techniques are amenable to the relatively solid mass of the liver, treatment within the lungs requires additional mechanisms to achieve the desired prevention of reseeding and spread of cancerous cells within the multiple luminal networks found in the lungs.